Mikel Arteta feels Arsenal’s Community Shield victory over Manchester City demonstrates they can compete for the Premier League crown with the treble champions. After a 1-1 draw at Wembley on Sunday, Arteta’s side came back to win 4-1 on penalties. City took the lead in the 77th minute thanks to Cole Palmer’s fantastic curler, but Arsenal refused to give up and Leandro Trossard equalized 11 minutes into stoppage time with a deflected effort.
‘Arsenal Have Proven They Can Compete With Manchester City,’ says Mikel Arteta.
It was the kind of lucky break that Arsenal missed out on last season when they blew an eight-point lead in the title race, allowing City to extend their Premier League dominance with a fifth title in six seasons.
The Gunners took full advantage of Trossard’s untimely equalizer, converting all four penalties in the shootout, while Kevin De Bruyne struck the crossbar and Rodri’s shot was saved by Aaron Ramsdale.
In a cathartic moment after their title agony, Arteta and his players erupted in wild celebrations after Fabio Vieira’s clinching penalty.
Arteta believes his side’s Wembley escape act will augur well for the new Premier League season, which begins on Friday.
“It’s fantastic if the players believe they can beat any team. “I think we showed a lot of fight and determination to win the game,” Arteta remarked.
Arsenal Have Proven They Can Compete With Manchester City,’ says Mikel Arteta.
“We deserved to win against a team that has been to so many championship games.”
“It doesn’t get much better than winning a trophy at Wembley Stadium against the best team in the world.”
Close-season additions Declan Rice and Jurrien Timber made strong debuts in central midfield and left back, respectively, providing further optimism for Arteta.
Kai Havertz, Arsenal’s other major recruit since last season, was less impressive, missing two golden opportunities in a continuation of the erratic form that convinced Chelsea to sell him.
Arteta defended Havertz, saying: “Havertz was superb, the way he pressed, he was in great positions to score. I was very pleased with him.”
– ‘We can do better’ – The Arsenal boss also defended the new time-wasting rules, which resulted in eight minutes of stoppage time, plus an additional five minutes due to injuries during the extra session.
“We’ll have to be ready to play 100 minutes every week because it’s going to happen.” It’s a good thing because it was getting too far the other way,” he explained.
As the victim of the increased stoppage time on this occasion, it was no surprise that City manager Pep Guardiola disapproved.
“It’s an excellent question for the international board because they don’t consult with managers or players.” “The games will now last 100 minutes,” he stated.
“There was only eight minutes today and nothing happened.” If the score is 4-3 and you put 45 seconds on for seven goals, I’ll still be here tomorrow morning!”
In recent seasons, the Community Shield victor has seldom gone on to win the Premier League, so Arteta urged his players not to rest on their laurels ahead of Saturday’s season opener against Nottingham Forest.
“You win a trophy today; tomorrow, you must train and prepare for the Forest game, which will be very different from this one.” “It lifts the spirit, but that’s all,” he explained.
After becoming only the second English team to win the Premier League, Champions League, and FA Cup in the same season, City must demonstrate that they still have a hunger for success.
Although Arsenal appeared to be the more hungry side for lengthy stretches at Wembley, Guardiola had no complaints about City’s lacklustre performance.
“I’m impressed with how well we behaved. We were up against an incredible team. “The goal was to give the players minutes and get them ready for Burnley on Friday,” he explained.
“We completed an extremely stressful season.” I understand how challenging this can be. That is the goal: to do better.”
Guardiola reminded his crowd that City’s last two Community Shield defeats had been followed by titles.
“We had three losses in a row.” Do you realize why? Because we won the Premier League to get here!” he explained.
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